Burnham & Berrow pix - again

[Sean_A]

A typically English way to start a competition.  Note the cups of tea are never far away.  That is Doc Hiseman on the left.


Ferguson's frightening 1st.


The wonderful 1st from ~100 yards out.  


The 1st green from the 2nd tee.


The second from ~80 yards out.  I really like the bunkering scheme here.  The two short bunkers offer enough room to play the left to right run up, but it is very tight.  If the length of the runup isn't judged accurately there is a third bunker waiting.  


A closer look at the 2nd.


The 3rd from the front of the tee.


The approach of the 3rd to a punchbowl green short of the posting.


The 3rd green from the 4th tee.  This photo shows the cool depression just short of the green (far right of photo) which sets this punchbowl apart from others.


The 5th from the front of the tee.  There are three bunkers guarding this hole.  


The very tough and much maligned 7th.  The ridge you see feeding balls directly to the bunker on the left of the fairway at about 240 yards off the tee runs all the way to the green.  This is one of my favourite features of the course.


From ~ 190 yards showing the ridge.  


The approach to the par 5 8th.  This hole recently added another set of tees on the other side of the creek which offers a bit more variety.


I never tire of looking at the 9th.  This is from the 170ish tee marker.


Introducing Philip on the tee of the 10th.  


A bell must adorn any proper links.


The wonderful 11th from ~45 yards short of the green.  


The lovely 12th.  One day I will get the Good Doc to see this hole as a greatun'


The 13th after a layup on this short par 5.  


Robin is slowly warming to the 14th.  A good par 3 with a clever green.  The fallaway to the left is cruel, but ya gotta love it.  


15th green - appoached from left of the photo.


This shot shows the dune which protects the left half of the green.  This really is a wonderful hole and ends the best stretch of holes starting at the 11th.  


This is a very funky mini-fairway on the 16th which just leads to this bunker.  Very unique feature.  


A monster African Animal like drive leaves this sort of view for the 18th.  


We beat the rain.


I am not sure how Philip felt about the course, but Doc seemed more impressed with Burnham than last year.  He especially noted some green features on the back nine which impressed him.  

It is well known that I think Burnham is one the very best courses in GB&I and I would give it a 6.8 on the SRA Scale.  There is no need to gush on about the course other than to mention the more I play the course the more the greens impress me.  The course in general is difficult to pinpoint with any certain style (not surprising with all the archies who were involved in its evolution).  The greens however, are even more varied.  Today I really noticed how many greens have a sharp fallaway side to them which  hadn't really sunk in before.  

Ciao

Sean

[ChipRoyce]

So is this a heathland or linksland course? In either case, seems to be very attractive land and layout.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Great pictures Sean.  It is a great course and affords the visitor a wonderful reception.  Have you played the other course?  I can't remember the name.  It was not great but it was an enjoyable way to end the day.

[Mark_F]

Nice pics Sean.

Burnham and Berrow could be the ultimate 'hidden gem' in the UK?  It's not that well known or well played, with not a lot around it, but is a super course that's a lot of fun.

[Mark Pearce]

Great memories.  I played Burnham with friends 11 or twelve years ago, staying in the Dormy House.  A wonderful course.  One of those same friends and I are planning a few days golf in October but couldn't decide on a venue, I think you've mad my mind up for me - Burnham followed by a trip down to Saunton.

B&B was also the scene of one of the more remarkable rounds of two halves I have ever seen.  My best man (a good 13 handicap golfer) shot exactly 100 - out in 63, back in 37.

Chip, it's a links but rather unusually has buckthorn rather than gorse.

[Kevin Pallier]

The first few holes on the start to the B9 were bland to say the least - especially with those dunes just crying out to be used.

As others have said an enjoyable and fun day is to be had at B&B - I thought the P3's were the highlight of the course.

[Marc Haring]

Hi Sean

Great pictures. Your love of Burnham is becoming legendary.

I get to play it every two or three years or so, seeing as it is just over an hours drive for me. The last time was one of those perfect summer evenings with great company where I managed to squeeze out a solid score despite the usual capitulation on the last. A meal in the local pub after and what more could a man want in life apart from a par on the last instead of the double.

I’ve got a couple of pictures illustrating that delightful evenings golf and also one pic of the channel course. I have played it in the past where the shot into the short 17th was a hefty cut with a six iron aimed 20 yards right of the green and the ball still ended up on the far left side of the green.


#12 with the sun getting low.



The glorious 15th. What a fairway! This is a blind drive and I nailed it but the buckthorn is just 10 yards left of my ball on the fairway.


The fun 8th on the Channel Course.

[Richard Muldoon]

Sean,
I too think B&B is underated and should get more praise. I think there is a great mix of holes and the green complexes are great. The only flat green I recall is the 18th, which is a bit of relief given how hard it is to hit in regulation.
I played it last year and couldn't believe how little is talked about it, given it is not really remote, such a good course and great value (£85 for B&B and 36 holes on main course).
4 of us played just it just after it had staged some amateur comp and the set up was brutal. On several holes we measured the fairways at 16 paces and the rough was thick. Speaking to a member, they played a club medal just after the am comp and he said of the 60 or so who entered about 25 NR'd.
I would love to see it under more 'normal' member friendly conditions.
Another said (don't know how much exaggeration here) that the members rarely played the 2nd course because it was too penal.
(No criticism of your photos meant as I know how hard it is to capture contours in photos) but the photos though showing elevation changes don't show just how severe they are.
I must persuade big brother to go down there next year just to confirm that I would put it in my top ten links courses.

[T_MacWood]

Is the club able to differentiate between the work of Colt and Alison?

[Richard Muldoon]

Tom,
I didn't get the chance to look into the history when I was there, but the clubs website just says that much of the current layout was down to Colt. Here's the link
http://www.burnhamandberrowgolfclub.co.uk/history/
There is also a book on the Club's history
Burnham & Berrow - Between the Church and the Lighthouse by Philip Richards
This was a limited Edition of 750

[Andrew Mitchell]

Great pix Sean.  Other than a solitary game at St Enodoc in June I've never played in SW England.  From what I've learnt on GCA.com, added to my reading of Jim Finigan's "All Courses Great and Small", it looks like its another area of the country I need to spend some time in

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Sean, thank you and great pictures. I was waivering on the Buda with some personal issues flying about. However, after one look at the pics the Tiger shall fly over the pond once again.

[Philip Gawith]

Sean - many thanks for fixing the game, it was a lot of fun and dinner near Chichester was safely negotiated.

I really enjoyed the course - I think I agree that the strengths of the course lie particularly in a number of very interesting greens, and a good set of par threes. As Robin noted, the course is maybe under-rated because it is not super aesthetic, and maybe lacks one standout hole - but overall I share your enthusiasm.

[JMorgan]

Sean,

Thanks for the great pics.  The course reminds me of what I've seen of Colt's Granville across the Channel.

JM

[Bill_McBride]

Sean, was there any discussion of Robin returning to once again captain the ROW side at the Buda Cup?  He performed well albeit in a losing effort at Painswick.  Perhaps we could call that a "Painswickian" effort, it sounds very Dickensian.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

The West Country is well worthy of exploration.  In addition to B&B, Saunton and St Enodoc, any visitor should consider also Bath, R N Devon, Trevose, West Cornwall, Bude and North Cornwall, Perranporth, Mullion, Yelverton, Bovey Castle, Ilfracombe, and perhaps Jack Nicklaus's best effort in the UK, St Mellion.

[Marc Haring]

Mark

I think I would replace Bath and Illfracombe with Teignmouth and East Devon.

[Paul_Turner]

Anyone played Newquay?

[Marc Haring]

Yes Paul, but so many years ago that the memory is fading. Either that or perhaps it was not that memorable in the first place. I seem to recall a few good holes though. I think the first short hole is a goody and there’s a couple of good long holes down the lower end but many drugged up surfers wandering to the beach and not much room for my favourite shot, the unadulterated, wild thrash.

[Marc Haring]

Warren GC in Dawlish is a great little James Braid track and a pure links. It's been a while since I played it but there are some super holes including a Cape over the estuary.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Warren GC in Dawlish is a great little James Braid track and a pure links. It's been a while since I played it but there are some super holes including a Cape over the estuary.

It's amazing to me that I've never heard of a course that promises so much in one of my favourite places.  Great tip Marc.

Check this out.  

 http://www.dwgc.co.uk/Index.html

[Philip Gawith]

With you and the Doc in such fine [GCA] form Sean, I didn't want to lower the tone!

[Robin_Hiseman]

Sean

Direct to you from the Czech Airlines lounge in Prague Airport, may I too thank you for the invite down to B&B.  I hope we can do it again next year.

I used to play B&B as a kid, as much of my family lives in the area.  Even as an 11 year old with a 34 handicap, they were happy to let me play thorugh the dunes all day long, so I too am very fond of the course.

This time I also noticed the green contouring much more than I had before, in part due to the 'killer' hole locations we found on most greens.  They were really venomous.

Maybe one day I will play B&B with a bit of form and really appreciate its strategic subtleties.  These are hard to see when you are chipping back to the fairways from behind WW2 gun emplacements!!

B&B really is a 'feel good' course.  Very informal and terrific value.  The guest lodging rate must be one of the best deals in golf.  

Bill, sorry I can't make Hoylake.  I'm going to be back here in Prague that week.

[Pete Lavallee]

Thanks for the great photo tour Sean.  We stopped there on our last English golf trip hoping to get an early time the next day, but couldn't play till noon. Did have a beer in the wonderful clubhouse which had enough memorabilia to keep any gca'er busy for hours.

Is there a golf course on earth where you can see less of the course from the clubhouse area? You see one green and one tee and that's it! Great reason to go back to one of the great spots in the world.